


Dirty Little Secret

by PaperNights



Category: 3 Below, Trollhunters (Cartoon), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Angst, Cuddles, First Kisses, Fluff, Hugs, It might turn into a song fic idk, I’ll add characters and tags as I go, M/M, Saying “flip” instead of the F word, Secret Relationship, Steve is the clingy one, Surprise Kiss, WIP, Work In Progress, accidentally kissing, angst oops, my gay sons, not a songfic, or so they think, steve is touch starved, this is my first post on ao3, this is my first work in this fandom, tumblr promt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 08:01:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15904194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaperNights/pseuds/PaperNights
Summary: “I don’t want to lose you.”





	1. An attempted confession.

**Author's Note:**

> Gosh, I’ve been dying to write this promt, but I didn’t have the right pairing, you know? But then this pair of idiots showed up and... Well, I just had to.  
> Also, please note that this is still a WIP and that I don’t have a beta, so every mistake you see is mine.

“I'm so lucky.” Steve murmured to himself during a particularly boring class, and just looking at Eli was a thousand times better than listening to the teacher -no matter how much he'll regret it later.

      Unfortunately, though, he wasn't sitting next to his boyfriend because of a stupid agreement that didn't seem so stupid at the time.

* * *

 

4 Months ago they were hanging out in Steve's bedroom, talking about nothing and everything, having a little snack after a patrol when Steve finally got the balls to ask Eli out, which, in all earnestly did not go as planned:

    “Hey, Pepperbuddy. Would it be weird if you and me, like, hung out?” he said, scratching his ear a little bit. He was clearly nervous.

Eli looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. “But we already do that. As a matter of fact, we are doing it right now! So why would it be weird?”

   “No, yeah. I know, I know. But I meant... more?”  
The look on Eli's face didn't disappear, he really had to choose his next words, huh?

    “Eli, will you be... my boyfriend?” Steve's face never felt hotter and Eli's face finally changed.

But not to the one he was expecting.

“Is this some kind of a joke?”  
“What?”  
“Is. This. A joke?”  
“What do you-”  
“It has to be a joke... Is... Is one of your 'friends' going to come out of the closet with a camera?”

_Well, you got the coming-out-of-the-closet part right_.

Eli was almost screaming/crying. _Oh, god what have I done?_

 “No! No, ba-buddy” _Close call._ “It's not a joke, promise. It's just that we've been friends for some time now and I couldn't help feeling a certain way for you; but I dismissed it because I didn't know that you like guys. So, since you told me I've been thinking about how to tell you this and wondering if I may have a little bit of a chance with you.”

“Steve-”

“But! But if I don't or if I had it but ruined it with my behavior in the past... Then I'm okay with just this: a friendship, and if you're not then I guess this is-” A hand muffled his last words.  
“Steve, will you shut up and listen?”

Steve's eyes were wide open, but he still nodded.

“Okay, let me get this straight: you are not kidding and you do want this” Eli said, motioning between them with his free hand. “to happen. Right?”

“Mmhm...”                                                                   _Eli, please...I can't take it anymore._

Noticing that he was blushing Eli took his hand off. “Sorry.” _Don't be._

They stayed in silence for what felt like a century, until Eli broke the silence; “I can't say that I'm not flattered and that I don't feel the same, but I still need some time to adjust. You see, being friends is one thing but to start a relationship so soon...”  
“We can still be friends!” Desperate, Steve tried to reassure him by repeating what he said earlier.

_I have to do something; I can't lose him._

“Eli, I don't wanna lose you. I can't lose you; you're the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I know I'm being selfish but you're my best friend and I-” That's when the tears started to fall down his cheeks, and the sobs took over his voice and breath. He was being vulnerable.

The hug was surprising but welcomed nonetheless.

“Steve, you won't lose me, you can't lose me. All I'm saying is that I might need some time to get my thoughts in check before I can even consider being in a relationship with you or anyone.”

That's when Steve hugged him tighter, trying to get Eli as close to his heart as physically possible. The tears were staining Eli's t-shirt but he couldn't care less about it, all that mattered to him was that Eli was there, and he wasn't going anywhere.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity but Steve didn't want to leave Eli's reassuring warmth.


	2. The kiss.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something kissy lippy happens in this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I change Coach's name A LOT, so keep up with that. Also, this chapter wat betaed(?)… For the most part. Hope you like it.

Two weeks passed since what Steve had come to refer to as “the incident” and since then, no word had been spoken about it. Out loud, at least.

“The incident” happened as follows:

 Both of them were chilling in Eli’s place, just like they’ve done since Coach had put them together in that not-so-dumb-but-still-dumb project. Steve needed help studying for his next calculus test. _Gosh, I hate calculus. _And Eli, sweet, sweet Eli, offered to help, and he wasn’t taking any chances of failing calculus… Again.

“So, you have ‘y=3x+x²-15’. What is its derived?”

“Uh… Is it y=3+2x?”

“Correct, Steve! See? Calculus isn’t that hard after all, is it?”

“I suppose it’s not.” He answered, while shrugging his shoulders.

Steve was proud of himself, he actually learned. Maybe all it took was a bit of Eli during study sessions, and he would become almost as good at math as Eli. Maybe.

He didn’t know why or when it happened but Eli kissed him, it wasn’t as he pictured but hey, who is going to reject a kiss from their crush? So he kissed him back.

And they kissed, and they kissed…

  Just as Steve was about to put one of his hands on Eli’s hair, he flinched. Steve was hurt, Eli had rejected his touch. Of course, why wouldn’t he? He had hurt Eli for weeks before the project.

“Sorry, I know I said I needed time and yet, here I am; kissing you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Eli. I shouldn’t have kissed you back.” _Even though I couldn’t resist._

“Promise me something; we are _never_ speaking of this again. Okay?” Eli was frowning now, trying to make his voice sound firm.

“But, I-”

Still frowning, Eli said: “No. What I did was wrong and it probably made you think I’m a hypocrite.”

“I know you aren’t, does that count for something?” A touch of hurt in his voice.

“I wish it did, honestly.” The guilt in Eli's voice was palpable.

The tension was so thick that you would’ve needed a chainsaw to cut through it. Steve wanted to say something, _anything_.

“Eli, I know I shouldn’t have reciprocated your kiss when I knew how you felt.” Guilt was washing over him. “And if you don’t want to do that again, I’ll understand. But we _need_ to talk about that kiss.”

“No, we don’t. Just… take your things and go, I have to be alone. I’m sorry.” Eli was hugging himself, as a form of making him look smaller.

“Thanks for your help.” Steve felt a knot forming in his throat, he had to leave before Eli could see him cry yet again.

He couldn’t leave Eli’s home fast enough. He ran until he reached his house, and still running, he entered his room. That’s when he allowed the tears to flow.

 _I will_ never _gain his trust, right?_

A knock on the door announced Coach's presence, he saw Steve running up the stairs and heard him slamming the door. Not wanting to disturb Steve, William talked through the door, his voice filled with concern.

"Steve, everything alright? Did something happen at Eli's?"

"No, nothing happened. Nothing worth mentioning at least." His voice became a whisper when he uttered that last sentence.

"Kid, don't lie to me. Something clearly happened, may I come in so we can talk?"

Steve didn't want Coach to see him like that, but at the same time he needed guidance. The kind of guidance only a father figure could give, so he got up and opened the door letting Will come in.

“Kiddo, you look-”

He knew how he looked: all red eyes and dry tears framing his face, hair disheveled from desperate hands running through it. Upon seeing Steve like that Will spread his arms, waiting for Steve to take the last step. Which he did.

“I don’t know what to do, Coach.” A sob. “He doesn’t trust me. But, who can blame him? I used to be his bully and still had to act like it because I said ‘let’s keep our cover’, why did I have to say such a stupid thing?!” His hands were made into fists, not that he was angry, he just felt impotent.

“Steve you worry too much. I’m sure he does trust you. I mean, if he didn’t, then why did he agree to help you with- what did you call them? - the creepers?” A pat on the kid’s head. “He could’ve just said no and leave you with that burden but he helped you, because you had something in common. Plus, your friendship was made public after that battle with that lady, didn’t it?”

Coach was right, of course he was right but Steve didn’t want to accept it, more like his guilt didn’t let him. He still hadn’t apologized to Eli. “Maybe I’m the hypocrite, dad.” Whoa, did he just call Coach “dad”? Yes, yes he did. And it felt right.

“Son, what do you mean by that?” Will stopped hugging Steve, his hands on the kid’s shoulders. “What exactly happened at Eli’s?” William had a look of concern, his furrowed brows suggested a serious answer; not just an evasion or an excuse.

Steve took a big breath. “I… He… We kissed. He was helping me study and all of the sudden he kissed me and I… Well, I kissed him back.” Lawrence knew about the failed confession, and also that Steve fell for Eli after the flour baby project. “Then he was worried that I thought of him as a hypocrite when actually I’m the one who is it.”

Coach was left speechless… For about 10 seconds. “So you kissed, big deal! It’s not like it was forced or anything, right?” Steve shook his head. “See? Okay, he kissed you and you didn’t say no or back away, you kissed him back. That was a clear sign of reciprocated feelings.<<

>>But what happened that led you to come running with tears in your eyes, boy?”

Steve hesitated. “He kind of kicked me out: Eli freaked out about the kiss and… Well, you know the rest.”

Lawrence hugged him once again, harder this time. “Steve, don’t worry, it’s all going to be fine.”

“How do you know that?”

And so, Coach explained him what Eli had told Steve before: he just needed time to put his thoughts in line, and that Steve should give him some space; to that, Steve didn’t agree as Eli was his best friend and so he didn’t want to leave him. So, Coach said: “You can try to be the bigger man, and say nothing about the kiss, unless Eli brings it up. Or you can kiss him again, although I don’t really recommend this because you saw how Eli reacted when it was spontaneous.”

“How about I make him kiss me by doing the same thing that made him kiss me in the first place?” But Steve wasn’t so sure about what he did, other than smile at Eli.

“You sure ‘bout that, boy? I mean, if it doesn’t work you could end up like that dog in that story: without Eli.

But if it does work, well, let’s just say that you’ll make him, your mom, and me very happy.”


End file.
